Bio Integration

We want to ensure that the research you publish with BIO Integration meets strict quality guidelines. Your reputation, and ours, depends on it. So does the reputation of your research institution on the global stage.

Here you will find guidance on the policies that help us achieve this, and what we ask of you to comply with them https://bio-integration.org/publication-ethics-and-malpractice-statement/

Other adopted initiatives include:

Rigorous Peer Review

BIO Integration applies external peer review in accordance with the journal’s Peer Review Policy and the requirements specified for each article type. Research articles and other article types designated as externally peer reviewed are reviewed by at least two suitably qualified external experts who are not members of the journal Editorial Board. Editorials and News and Views are normally subject to editorial review, while other commentary or opinion-based content may be externally peer reviewed at the editors’ discretion.

Publication and Research Ethics

BIO Integration fully supports and endorses the recommendations and guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). We expect all submissions to follow COPE guidelines, particularly those regarding authorship and conflict of interest.

Anti-plagiarism Checking

A combination of pre-screening and open access is the best possible defence against plagiarism. All articles submitted to BIO Integration are automatically screened for text similarity using Crossref Similarity Check, powered by iThenticate. Similarity reports are reviewed by the editorial team to identify potential plagiarism or other concerns.

Paper Mills

BIO Integration has systems in place to detect and investigate suspicious patterns across submissions that may indicate the involvement of paper mills or attempts to manipulate the peer review process. We take decisive action to address these issues, whether they are discovered before or after publication.

Use Of AI Writing Tools

While artificial intelligence (AI) tools can assist researchers in conducting and communicating their research, the increasing use of generative AI also poses risks, such as the potential for inaccurate information, lack of proper attribution, and the creation of fabricated content. Authors must disclose any use of generative AI or automated tools that contributed to the preparation of their manuscript, beyond routine language editing, copy-editing or formatting. Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, validity and originality of all content generated or assisted by such tools. For full requirements, please refer to the journal’s Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Automated Tools Policy.

Image Manipulation

BIO Integration screens all submitted images for signs of manipulation. Continuous tone images (e.g., photographs, immunofluorescent images, western blots) are reviewed for integrity before publication.

Image Inspection for Integrity

We use various tools to inspect image files, which serves several purposes:

Identifying areas of potential concern, including duplication.
Ensuring compliance with image integrity guidelines.
Assisting authors in correcting unintentional errors.

Image Integrity Guidelines

Manipulating or electronically enhancing images in ways that violate our guidelines may be considered scientific misconduct. However, we understand that mistakes can occur, and our goal is to address concerns constructively. Below are examples of acceptable and unacceptable image modifications.

Acceptable Changes

Linear adjustments: Changes to contrast, brightness, or colour are allowed if they clarify image details. These adjustments must be applied uniformly across the entire image, not selectively to parts.

Problematic Changes

The following alterations must be avoided:

Removing, hiding, or adding anything in the image (except for added labels like arrows, scale bars, or text).
Copying and pasting elements within the same image.
Selectively enhancing specific parts of the image.
Moving elements in the image around.

Special Cases

Nonlinear adjustments: Adjustments like gamma correction should be applied to the entire image and must be clearly noted in the figure legend.
Composite images: When combining multiple images or parts of images, it must be clearly indicated in the legend that it is a composite. A thin line between sections (called “tooling”) can help distinguish different parts.
Reusing images: you may reuse images in a manuscript, but it’s essential to explain where and why in the figure legend.

Additional Examples and Resources

For cases not covered in this summary, we adhere to the recommendations and guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE):

Handling Image Concerns

If image integrity concerns arise, they are referred to our Publication Ethics Team and the Co-Editors-in-Chief. Authors may be asked to provide original data to resolve issues.

Publication Process and Image Investigations

Image integrity investigations can delay the publication process. We aim to resolve concerns promptly while upholding the integrity of the work. In extreme cases, unresolved concerns may result in the withdrawal of acceptance or further actions.

Open Licenses

All BIO Integration content is released under open licenses from Creative Commons. We believe that the CC BY license is the most useful and practical licence for journal articles, in order to fully commit to the open access initiative and to support global dissemination of research findings.

Research Data Submission

BIO Integration encourages authors to make the research objects associated with their publications openly available. This means that the research community and wider public are able to similarly validate authors’ work, and are more easily able to extend and build upon it. See the Instructions to Authors for further details.

Indexing & Archiving

All BIO Integration content is indexed with Crossref and assigned a Digital Object Identifier (DOI). All metadata is openly available for harvesting by indexing services.

BIO Integration guarantees that all published material will be available for perpetuity. BIO Integration is a subscriber member to the Portico digital preservation service provided by ITHAKA, a not-for-profit organization with a mission to help the academic community use digital technologies to preserve the scholarly record and to advance research and teaching in sustainable ways.

No Lock-in

BIO Integration uses open, non-proprietary standards for all of its content, meaning that it can be easily transferred to archives or other publishers. All of our article XML is compliant with the Journal Archiving Tag Suite (JATS) schema.

We endorse and adhere to the NISO Transfer Code of Practice, which ensures that when a journal transfers between publishers, that librarians, editors, or other publishers are informed and treated fairly.

BIO Integration does not seek to retain ownership or control of journal content. Copyright in published articles is retained by the authors, and BIO Integration does not retain rights that would prevent the content from being transferred should the journal or editorial group decide to change publisher.

Advertising Policy

BIO Integration does consider accepting advertising. For further information please see https://bio-integration.org/advertising/.